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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27818884">In the Dark of the Night</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kisafander/pseuds/Kisafander'>Kisafander</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Sanders Sides (Web Series)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Bows &amp; Arrows, Confusion, Hunters &amp; Hunting, Innuendo, M/M, Multi, Weapons</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 18:07:33</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>6,065</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27818884</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kisafander/pseuds/Kisafander</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Logan doesn’t know at first why he’s up in a tree, but that doesn’t mean he is stuck up there. Especially when something else catches his attention.</p><p>But not everything is at it seems, and Logan will find that out soon enough. Only, it won't be in any way he expects.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders/Logic | Logan Sanders</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>TSS Fanworks Collective</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. The Pitch Black and Morning Light</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>There was no sound as he ran through the trees. His feet barely made a peep across the leaf-covered ground. The darkness around him only made the silence put him more on edge as the light ringing in his ears still lingered. A rolling sensation in his stomach emerged as the images he never wanted to see again flashed in front of his eyes a second before he willed them away.</p><p>The night was cool, but in the silence, it might as well have been windy with how his body was trembling.</p><p>He had been running for what must have been hours at this point, and his legs and feet were beginning to scream at him. But he couldn’t stop, not until...</p><p>Glancing at his hands as he brought up to his face, he did a double take when they didn’t rise up to greet him like he was sure he had done. Stumbling, his body tensed as he scoured every square inch of where his body was supposed to be only to find empty air.</p><p>Legs turning to jelly, he collapsed towards a tree only to pass right through it. Passing through the tree, he was greeted by a wide pit that couldn’t have possibly been there just a second before. </p><p>The ground around the pit was normal, twigs and leaves, but at the edge of the pit, it suddenly changed as the pit was littered with jagged rocks and some strange material he couldn’t quite identify in the split second he looked at it. Despite the moonlight illuminating the area enough to relatively see, the details of the pit were fuzzy even as he gazed into it.</p><p>Precious sound was finally back, but this wasn’t the sound of regular fauna, it was instead an unsettling clacking and clicking, almost a chittering, from within the pit that he couldn’t see the real bottom of. Even his keen eyes only captured an endless sea of black at the bottom, much like the other details of it.</p><p>The momentum of his collapse brought him to the edge of the pit, teetering on the edge of the pit without anything to hold onto. For a heart-stopping moment, he hung there on the edge. He flailed his arms desperately, invisible eyes open as wide as they could go as his mouth formed an invisible ‘o’.</p><p>But his hopes were dashed as the edge of his heel brushed a rock down from the edge. Watching it tumble into the dark abyss, the ground below his feet gave way as the sound below him got louder.</p><p>A strangled note was finally wrenched from his lips as his eyes instinctively closed. His invisible limbs flailed and his stomach lurched as he began to fall.</p><p>-</p><p>Heart pounding nearly out of his chest, Logan’s eyes blew open to a blast of sudden light. Limbs flailing for a moment, he nearly cried out as his mind was still in the interim stages of waking up for a long moment. The world was fuzzy, much like the pit, for a long few moments that had Logan’s jaw clenching and him holding his breath until it finally resolved into clarity.</p><p>Left hand flying up to his chest, Logan leaned back as he blinked his eyes in the light of his surroundings. Glancing down at his body for a moment, Logan frowned. After taking stock of himself, he quickly made sense of his surroundings.</p><p>A canopy of green was above him, yet that didn’t stop the slanting light of the barely risen sun to stab him directly in the eyes where it bypassed all the limbs and leaves. And that was despite the thick foliage between Logan and the sun, where most of the ground was still shrouded in darkness.</p><p>
  <em> The ground… the ground is- </em>
</p><p>Craning his neck up from where it had been propped up against something, the edges of Logan’s mouth dipped as his eyes scanned the forest floor that was a few dozen feet below him. Logan’s hand stayed mostly limp at his sides as he flicked his eyes up to the tree’s canopy of leaves above him. He tracked the trunk until it rested behind him and it fell out of direct view from where he sat against it.</p><p>Taking a single deep breath, Logan once again brought his attention down to his body. The material of his clothes gave way to the familiar sensation of the thick weight of his pack and the surprisingly lightness of his covering. </p><p>
  <em> I’ll never understand why some people call my covering a cloak. It looks like a cloak, but a cloak and a covering are two distinct things. Though words are made up, but- </em>
</p><p>His ears flicked just a little as a small, sudden sound nearby caught his attention. Expression wavering to a near cringe, the awareness of the sound gave way to all of the sound Logan had been unconsciously tuning out hitting him all at once. The light breeze in the trees rustling the leaves around them, the far off sound of bird song, the buzz of various bugs everything suddenly penetrated Logan’s ears in a near painful way.</p><p>His hands were frozen on his leg and stomach for just a moment before Logan sprung into action.</p><p><em> Someone- or some </em> <b> <em>thing </em> </b> <em> is here </em>.</p><p>In a flurry of limbs, Logan was halfway down to the ground within the next blink, silently scaling down the tree with the ultimate precision.</p><p>A heaviness was draped over him as his feet alighted the ground. It dragged not just his arms and legs down, but also his eyelids as well. Despite the fact he just woke up, Logan’s body was begging for him to go back to sleep for a week.</p><p>
  <em> I can’t sleep. If someone is here they could kill me in my sleep without me even knowing, I have to kill them first before they can strike. This task is too important to let my guard down. </em>
</p><p>Stepping carefully across the forest floor, Logan’s hands reached simultaneously behind him with calculated precision. His heart still stuttered to a near stop when his hand came up to grasp only empty air. Thankfully, his pinky bumped his prized possession instead. </p><p>Logan let a grateful breath out from his nose as his hands worked independently of each other. His left hand expertly grabbed an arrow from his quiver at the same instant he pulled his bow from around himself. Nocking the arrow with perfect precision, anyone that observed the action would have only observed a blur of movement before Logan was already ready and primed to shoot.</p><p>Face impassive and breathing steady, Logan stepped slowly towards where the sound had come from.</p><p>Logan ears flicked once more when a second louder but equally indistinguishable sound came from slightly off of where Logan had been sure the sound had come from. Somehow, his form both relaxed and tensed at the sound, but his hands remained ready and steady on his bow.</p><p>Another virtually silent huff of air, distantly noting the slight fog his breath made in the semi-frigid air. The cold had been fought off easily by his covering, but his hood slowly dipping as it slid off his head made him finally shiver.</p><p>Relaxing the bowstring, Logan wrapped his left pointer finger securely around the arrow while he reached up with his right hand and pulled his hood down again. Muttering under his breath, he waved his hand in front of his face and tugged on his hood again before returning his hand to the bowstring once more.</p><p>The distraction was gone, so Logan finally continued to stalk forwards towards the sound.</p><p>Trees became a little sparser the closer he got to the source of the sound. The bushes that had been a rare sight nearer to the tree Logan had slept in were now an impenetrable wall around the source of the sound.</p><p>As Logan reached the edge of the underbrush, the sound grew to near constancy. It was the sound of something heavy hitting the ground, but it was a strange sort of thud.</p><p>
  <em> What? What could this possibly be? Is this even from a humanoid? </em>
</p><p>Logan paused, if just for a moment, as his brow wrinkled and his dry mouth only grew dryer. Swallowing was difficult. The sound occurred again, Logan straining to discern what was happening beyond the bushes. However, the sound still remained as confusing as ever.</p><p>His hands began to falter. They were shaking, but not loosening their firm grip on the bow. But as quickly as Logan’s hands shook, Logan’s hands stilled once more as the muscles in Logan’s jaw tightened and he took another stalking step forward.</p><p>
  <em> I can’t stop, I at least have to see. There’s no going back. </em>
</p><p>Logan continued through the growing population of bushes until something moving finally revealed itself shifting behind the last layer of bushes.</p><p>With bated breath, Logan’s eyes stayed laser focused on the movement until the point of his arrow began to poke through the last bush. Bringing his arms down slightly but still leaving his weapon ready, Logan poked his head through the bush where the threat lay.</p><p>Logan’s eyes widened.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. A Dip in the Morning</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Logan is surprised with what he finds within the ring of bushes where this strange noise is coming from. But perhaps, it’s not the malicious thing he expected.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Logan stood still where he was crouched, his lips slightly open as he gazed through the last set of bushes into the small clearing within. His breathing was soft and calculated, but it might as well have been a giant’s footfalls with how loud it rang in Logan’s ears. Blinking rapidly at the sight before him, the head of Logan’s arrow began to dip as well as Logan’s grip on his bow.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Well that’s certainly… Unexpected.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>His hands had stopped trembling on his bow at this point, though whether out of the ability to see his supposed assailant or the fact the tension of the moment had passed the moment the tip of his arrow pierced the last ring of bushes, Logan wasn’t sure. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>What was sure to him was what he found in front of him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Within the ring of bushes that gathered around this small clearing within, the most notable feature was the pond that rippled in the morning light. Casting beams of light every which way, some of the flashes of light from the surface of the pond were nearly enough to blind Logan for a few moments. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>However, the pond itself was not empty, as a figure in the pool slowly moved within the pool. The figure was pumping their arms in a gesture like they were actively swimming, though the pond was barely large enough to accommodate a few feet of swimming at most, so the movement was generally useless, but the figure didn’t seem to care.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Their movements kept the pond in an active state of lapping against the edges of the bank. The sound up close and personal became recognizable as such a sound of flowing water, but it also called upon the previous sounds that had caught Logan’s attention. Through the brush, the sound had lost all the details that distinguished it as water, which was partly why Logan’s mouth couldn’t seem to completely close now.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>With every upstroke, the figure’s dark brown hair bobbed in and out of the water with the regularity of someone very practiced in swimming, even in the small pond. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The casualness, the fact that this humanoid was so okay with being vulnerable even in this secluded part of the forest was something that dipped Logan’s arrowhead a little up and down, unsure. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Whatever the reason for the humanoid’s lackadaisical attitude of swimming in this pond, if they had the confidence to do this, then what did they have up their sleeves?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Or… were they just an idiot?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>An assailant might actually be better than an idiot. At least I would know what to do with an assailant, an idiot would only be a hindrance or a nuisance. I can’t kill him- I think they're a him? No matter, I can’t kill an idiot just because he is an idiot. I have the upper hand at the moment, so for now, I can’t let my guard down. Not when I’m not safe yet.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Logan’s hands once again tensed around his bow and arrow. The head of the arrow rose back up to aim at the humanoid’s bobbing head. But that was before the humanoid’s movement faltered and he moved blindly backwards to sit with his back to Logan. All the while, Logan never got a good look at his face, but the size of him ruled out all the smaller races.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>That meant this stranger was human, and human strangers were dangerous, sometimes more dangerous than other elves.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>But also kinder than some as well, don’t forget that, Logan.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Waiting while still </span>
  <em>
    <span>mostly</span>
  </em>
  <span> hidden in the bushes, Logan found the confidence while the human was facing away from him to finally step slowly into the clearing. Just like how he was nearly completely silent when he darted through the forest to even find this hidden place, Logan was virtually silent as he stalked up half crouched behind the oblivious human.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He made it within a foot of the human, holding the tip of the arrow he had had drawn for so long now only an inch or two from the human’s head with the human not even reacting.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But all at once, the human suddenly spoke to the open air in front of them. Logan’s finger instinctively twitched on his bow as the human spoke to him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Are you going to shave the top of my hair with that or will you actually greet me properly instead of treating me like an enemy?” The human splashed a bit of water towards the other end of the pond, as if he hadn't just basically addressed Logan like he had eyes in the back of his head. His voice was airy, but had a note of threat in it despite that.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Limbs freezing up, Logan's mind immediately went into overdrive at the situation.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Wait does he actually know I’m here? Is this just a very well timed coincidence? Should I announce myself? What if this is a trap? Crap, crap, crap.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Holding his breath, Logan allowed himself to rise to his full height, keeping the arrow poised at the relaxed human’s head. Only when Logan was at his full height did he finally speak.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Well, when you see someone roaming somewhere they aren’t supposed to be, you get a little on guard about it.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>His voice was lowered by at least half an octave as he growled his reply out. There was a pang of lightness in his chest and a slight warmth coming back to his body as the human’s hands paused in their lazy moment back and forth around the human. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The human didn’t reply back immediately, which just made the feeling Logan’s chest reverberate through him once more. But when the human spoke up again, the tone was unchanged from the previous time.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Well, that’s definitely bullshit.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Logan breathed in rapidly through his nose, a noise that judging by the abrupt twitch in the human’s neck, the human definitely caught the sound of. Even without the human turning around, the human’s smirk was obvious when their voce filtered back once again to Logan. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You don’t like my choice of words? Would a more accurate statement be perhaps ‘that’s definitely the excrement of a bull?’ Or even ‘that’s as true as the excrement coming out you and you are like a bull?’” The eyebrow raise was just as audible as the human’s even more smug smirk.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Logan reeled back a step from the pond, his brow creasing as the human went off on the small tangent. It took a moment for Logan to speak after the human had stopped speaking. When Logan finally responded, he cleared his throat to reply once again, this time keeping his voice carefully level.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No. And it is not your business why I do the things I do either,” Logan again wrapped his right pointer finger around the shaft of the arrow as he adjusted the front of his clothing a little. The time with his left hand off his hand off his weapon was short, but a risk especially with what he said next. “Now I am the one with the control here, and I’m instructing you to turn around to face me, slowly so I can put a face to you, human.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Despite the gravity and tone of Logan’s statement, the human was silent for a moment before actually laughing. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Laughing</span>
  </em>
  <span> at Logan like he hadn’t just threatened to shoot him right then and there, as if he wasn’t a finger’s twitch away from getting an arrow buried in his skull.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Oh yeah, this guy’s definitely in the idiot category. Great.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The laughing stretched on for nearly a half of a minute, all the while Logan sat there with the same expression he had when he first saw the inside of the clearing.. Wiping his eyes, the human finally began to wind down from his laughing fit that had gone on for at least 15 seconds too long.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh, ha ha, that’s, ha, funny. I certainly don’t doubt your ability, but you don’t have power in this situation just because you have a bit of wood and some string.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>To make his point, the human waited another few long moments before causally turning around and resting his arms on the edge of the pond.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>However, the moment both of them met eyes, they both froze for the exact same reason.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What the fuck….”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Logan was pinned to the spot as he blinked at mirrored eyes that blinked just as bewildered back at him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>They both had the same eye color, which would be nothing of note if not for their mutual unique coloring of a stark green and blue. In fact they mirrored each other enough that the colors were just like the set each of them saw in the mirror. It was… incredible.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I don’t… take you to be the type to be speechless, but I do concur with the sentiment. This is quite, um…” Logan swallowed thickly even as his eyes remained locked with the human’s. “...an interesting development…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>After that statement, the eyes that so fascinatingly mirrored his finally blinked and looked away from the intense eye contact they had in that captivating moment. He nearly wanted to remain in that moment forever, to continue staring into eyes like his own yet don't belong to him. The swirl of emotions foreign to him forever churning in his gut in a slightly queasy but pleasant stirring in his chest.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The human cleared his throat, his cheeks darkening in a way that made Logan’s breath hitch. This human was clearly trying to be tough and everything, and the pigment in his cheeks was betraying him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Well it’s… a pleasure to have an eye mirror I suppose. (And I wasn’t fucking speechless shut the fucking fuck up!) </span>
  <em>
    <span>Anyways,</span>
  </em>
  <span> what were you going to say?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Hands loosely gripping his bow as Logan had relaxed his them without meaning to when he and the human’s gaze were locked with each other’s. This human was quite the peculiar one, but for some reason Logan was so caught off guard that he had let down his guard multiple times.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Logan’s eyes scrutinized the human’s face, searching for any flaw, any slight tell that meant he wasn't telling the truth. But he found nothing in this human’s face that truly meant him harm. It honestly was probably too good to be true, but Logan finally let some of the tension in himself go. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He finally relaxed his bow as well, the string that had been pulled tight for so long that it had begun to bite painfully into his fingers from holding the arrow back. Still watching carefully, the human’s face gave away no unnatural shift in emotion. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The human once again began to smirk, this time within Logan’s view. He didn’t move much, but the smirk was enough. It took a long moment, but Logan finally registered that the slight discoloration on the human’s upper lip was something elves could not grow, a mustache.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Running his hand back through his hair, Logan relaxed his stance even more. It was only then did the human finally spoke up again</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Are you even going to shoot me?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Logan frowned automatically at the statement, but after a few long seconds, responded in kind.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Perhaps… not. But maybe you can help me find something I can shoot?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>His lips pressed together, Logan gestured vaguely towards the bushes with his bow and arrow. The human’s eyes flickered to the bushes on the edge of the clearing, his face quickly turning from a slight frown to a bemused smile as he caught Logan’s meaning.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>That dang smirk was back on the human’s face again.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Well, maybe, but you’ll have to get me out of the water first, and this water’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>sooooo</span>
  </em>
  <span> refreshing.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Closing his eyes, the human drew out the ‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>soooo’ </span>
  </em>
  <span> for far longer than necessary to make their point. Once he was done he opened his eyes again and that smirk immediately returned, even deeper and wider this time.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Quirking his eyebrows, Logan allowed his stance to relax even more, hands itching to either put everything away or notch the arrow again.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Are you suggesting… I manhandle you out of the water? Why would I be inclined to do that in the slightest? You’ll come out on your own time independent of what I do.” Logan pursues his frowning lips, before his expression freezes, whipping up to look the human once again directly in the eye. “Is… Is this your way of suggesting that we are now a team of sorts? That at the very least you seriously want to assist me in hunting?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The human’s smirk deepened.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yes to both counts. Particularly the first one.” The human rests their chin fully on their hands, watching Logan intently, their smirk growing more and more smug by the second.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It takes Logan a few seconds, but after that handful of seconds Logan’s cheeks blossom with a slight heat. He ducks his head automatically away from the human.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Well… I’m not about to do that, actually so if you want to get out of the water, you can do that yourself. And I’m still not sure about just going with you out of the blue,” Dropping his arrow back into his quiver, Logan paced slightly back and forth, keeping his eyes on the human at all time. We’ve barely met for 5 minutes. How can I- we even trust each other right now? I don’t even know your name”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>For the first time, the human finally pushed himself up from leaning on the bank. His bare chest bobbed in and out of the water. A small part of Logan had eyes glued to that bare bit of skin, but the rest of him tore his gaze away from the spot just as fast. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Rubbing the back of his neck where his hair tickled his neck, Logan watched as the human ventured towards the other end of the pool. Over there, a few articles of clothing lay as well as the obvious handle of a short ranged weapon poked out of one of the bushes.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>So that’s part of why this human was so blasé about having a weapon pointed at him, he had his own nearby. I should’ve noticed it earlier. </span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Glancing away from the weapon, Logan frowned as he mentally kicked himself for becoming so unfocused that he had overlooked it.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Great job, Logan. Forgetting everything he… everything you know the moment you meet a cu- a human in the forest. Even if he isn’t going to attack you right now, you need to know what he has in case he decides differently later. </span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“My name is something you get with my clothes on, Mr. Tall Glass of Fire Water.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>At the wording, Logan turned back with his mouth opening to ask the meaning of what the human meant. That was until the moment Logan’s eyes landed on the human once more. And it was </span>
  <em>
    <span>just</span>
  </em>
  <span> the human, not his undergarments or anything.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>This human was skinny dipping in a pond in the middle of the forest.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>What the fu-</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>An undignified squeak rocketed out of Logan’s lips when his eyes fell upon the human. His hand immediately came up to slap his eyes as he inadvertently glanced directly at the human’s backside as he was getting out of the pond. The human glanced back with his eyebrows raised at the vocalization, eyebrows raised as if being completely naked in front of someone was perfectly fine.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Beginning to think this human’s base state was with a smirk, Logan once again was subject to a smirk hidden in a hearty chuckle from the human. He had no reference for when this human would be properly clothed, so Logan agonizingly waited as the sound of clothing sliding off one another had his ears alternating between facing towards and away from the sound.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>How is he this unflappable? He was </span>
  </em>
  <b>
    <em>proud</em>
  </b>
  <em>
    <span> of what he just did, exposing himself to me so flagrantly! I thought he had some lower undergarments, but no! I’m glad he wasn’t facing forwards at least!</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Logan would be lying if he said that his face wasn’t aflame at the sight of the human’s sudden nakedness. Heart racing and breathing shallower than usual, Logan stared at the ground, torn between wanting the moment to end immediately and wanting an indefinite amount of time to process all the things that just happened.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>No matter what, the human’s voice eventually called out to him. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Mr. Pointy and Modest, you can turn around now. I’m </span>
  <em>
    <span>decent</span>
  </em>
  <span> now.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jumping nearly a couple of feet into the air, Logan whipped around to find the human only a few inches from him. He was dressed properly this time in a citizen’s garb from the nearest region with a coat that bordered on dragging the ground on this human, to which Logan breathed out a sigh of relief after his feet touched the ground again. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Perfect.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>However, his heart had other ideas, beating faster than it had ever beat before as Logan caught the human’s heterochromic eyes.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>A million thoughts ran through his head in that moment, but his mouth had other ideas, moving before his mind had any time to stop it.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What is your name? You’re dressed now.” He froze at that moment, the tips of his ears growing warmer than usual as they pinned themselves to the side of his face automatically.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Chuckling once again, the human held up a single finger and fastened his coat securely before looking back up and lowering his finger.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Okay, now I can tell you.” The human continued, opening his mouth and leaving it gaping for a moment too long. “My name is……”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It took only a half a dozen seconds for it to set in that the human was deliberately pasuing just to torture Logan and simply coughed in a near perfect impression of an actual cough. Without missing a beat, the human immediately unfroze, finishing the slight bow he had been completing just before he froze in place.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“...Remus. And that’s all you need to know.” Remus winked exaggeratedly before glancing down a moment and straightening back up. “Say Mr. Un-feel-ie, what’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>your </span>
  </em>
  <span>name?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Blinking, Logan opened his mouth to reply. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Wait…  I can’t give him my real name just like that! No, I need a fake one instead! Um… maybe...</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Logic, my name is… Logic.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Quirking his eyebrow, Remus leveled a stare that was equal parts blank and full of something that Logan for the life of him couldn’t read in Remus’s eyes.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Interesting name, but I’m not here to judge.” Shrugging his shoulders, he simply turned around and began to walk back to the far side of the pond where Remus’s things to get so far into the forest likely resided.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Logan stood there as he walked until it was obvious that he wasn’t stopping. Taking a few steps forward, Logan reached out with his right hand as an impulse swooped through him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Whoa!” Logan almost jumped at the sound of his own voice as his voice was half an octave higher than his usual speaking voice. “Where are you going?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Remus didn’t completely stop in his tracks, but did slow down as he replied.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“To come help you hunt! You said you wanted some help in finding something to shoot, and that means hunting.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Opening his mouth, the warmth in his ears came flooding back. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh that- I was- I don’t-”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hmm?” A raised eyebrow from Remus nearly cut him off.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Looking down at the ground, Logan’s hand gently came up to his tightening chest before he looked up and continued.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I meant more just target practice…not hunting necessarily. I don’t need help fending for myself, I’m fully capable on my own. I suppose I’m asking if I can accompany you to wherever you live or at least close.” Gripping his nails into his arm, Logan met Remus’s eyes, which were much softer in that moment than they had been before.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He nodded, “I’m sure you are capable on your own. And you’re asking to come back to my house? Oh, you’re so very forward, .Feyrly Fuckable. Of course you can.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Remus winked, everything just heating up Logan’s ears more. His body was nearly frozen in place..</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No, not like that! I just need a place for </span>
  <em>
    <span>target practice</span>
  </em>
  <span> for a day and then I’ll be on my way.’ Logan waved his hands as if he were waving away a small bunch of bees flying around him. “Nothing more than a need for target practice.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>His eyes widened the moment before Remus’s face-splitting grin opened to speak.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’ll bet you’ll need some </span>
  <em>
    <span>target practice</span>
  </em>
  <span>.” Yet another wink from Remus. “I’m happy to provide </span>
  <em>
    <span>one night</span>
  </em>
  <span>.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>How is this guy- this </span>
  </em>
  <b>
    <em>human</em>
  </b>
  <em>
    <span> real? Is innuendo his base thing to go to? This is going… to be a long day. I can tell.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Stifling a sigh, Logan stretched his hand out in a handshake. He waited for Remus to reciprocate, but there was a few seconds before he did. Remus’s grip was surprisingly strong as they shook their hands once before Logan let go. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>However, Remus didn’t let go immediately, choosing to linger as he and Logan stared into each other’s eyes.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Can you let go of my hand please?” Wiggling his fingers in Remus’s grasp, Logan glanced between Remus’s eyes and his grip on his hand</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Flashing Logan a cheeky grin, Remus still held his hand there a moment or two longer before he finally let go with a flourish.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Sure, Logic.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Turning around, Remus jutted his elbow out as he stepped beside Logan. He gazed at Logan with those slightly softened eyes as if he was communicating with them. But the gesture only confused Logan more, flinching back the moment it rose up as Logan’s first instinct was Remus was attacking.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But that wasn’t the case, as Remus only let his arm hang there without moving towards Logan.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It didn’t stop Logan from leaning away from the elbow as he stared at it and asked, “What are you doing?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Remus frowned.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Isn’t it obvious? I’m asking you to link elbows with me! I’m accompanying you to my </span>
  <em>
    <span>mighty steed</span>
  </em>
  <span>,” The word was said with a great deal of emotion that Logan couldn’t place, it wasn’t completely happy, sad, or angry, just a jumble of emotion. “I’m not going to just lead you with you trailing behind me like a lost puppy or something. I’m </span>
  <em>
    <span>actually</span>
  </em>
  <span> a gentleman when I want to be.’</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Wink.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>This human- Remus, I swear you wink figuratively with every other sentence you speak. No matter…</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Well thank you then…” Logan reached out slowly with his left arm, carefully passing it through the loop created by Remus’s arm.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You’re </span>
  <em>
    <span>very</span>
  </em>
  <span> welcome.” Remus’s voice drew out the second word, growing thicker for just that one word.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Yes, innuendo is his first impulse apparently. ...this is </span>
  </em>
  <b>
    <em>definitely</em>
  </b>
  <em>
    <span> going to be a long day.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Looking around a moment at the pond they were leaving, Logan watched the slightly rippling surface of it before his gaze skirted across the bush he had come from.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Turning back, Logan was just in time to experience passing through the bushes on the side he hadn’t come through.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It took a moment after the bushes passed behind him for Logan’s eyes to land on what exactly they would be riding.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Wow, your horse is quite the beauty.” Logan slowed down as he marveled at Remus’s horse tied to a tree, head bowed to the grass nearest it until they drew close enough.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ears flicking, the horse backed up slightly and it’s front legs pushed up slightly, ready to buck at this new stranger approaching it with Remus.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“This is Deodore, and </span>
  <em>
    <span>definitely</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Shh, shh, Deodore. This elf is a friend.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Remus unclasped his arm from Logan’s and stepped up to Deodore to calm her. However, Logan was faster, stopping just far enough away and extending his hand out. Deodore’s nostrils flared a moment, her legs bobbing again for a moment before her legs settled once again and stretched out herself to sniff Logan’s hand.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Remus’s lips pursed as he watched Logan work.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Deodore gave his hand a thorough sniffing over before bumping into Logan’s hand and snorting.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“She thinks you had food. But… that was impressive. She usually doesn’t like anyone other than me, not even some rangers. But she likes </span>
  <em>
    <span>you</span>
  </em>
  <span>.” A face-splitting grin bloomed on his face as he pulled a small bit of carrot and held it to Deodore near where Logan had his hand out.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Deodore quickly turned her head and scooped up the small bit of carrot with her thick lips, the crunching of the carrot filling the air.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Remus brushed his hand together before he turned to Logan.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Well, now that that’s done, I’ll get her riding ready and you think you can get up by yourself?” It was Logan’s turn to angle an eyebrow at Remus. “You’re right, you will.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Wait, I'm riding </span>
  </em>
  <b>
    <em>with </em>
  </b>
  <em>
    <span>him? Wait, what else would I ride then? Get it together Logan, he came here alone, you can’t expect him to just have an extra horse in his pocket or something.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Logan glanced around once more at his surroundings as he began to untether Dedore from the tree.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The trees looked subtly different on this side of the bushes for some reason, but Logan hadn’t been looking up and investigating the trees as he approached where Remus had been, so everything was probably okay and he just didn’t see the change as it began the father he went.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Okay, we’re good now.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Logan turned back to see Remus already on Deodore, waiting for him now to get up with him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh. By the way, thank you for this.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Stepping beside Deodore, Logan was on her in one smooth move. Unluckily, there was only a small amount of space for him to sit, but he made due.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>In that moment, though, his cheeks and his ears heated up as it was evident Logan would have to hold onto Remus at some point. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>This definitely won’t help with the innuendos, but… it’s necessary. That’s the only reason, yeah, it’s necessary not to fall.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Hands nearly shaking, Logan grabbed loosely onto the middle of Remus’s torso in an attempt to adjust. Remus’s back stiffened automatically, but relaxed as he spoke.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“So forward, at least ask me out to a date. Then we can get to the fucking.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Scoffing, Logan rolled his eyes as he held his embrace on Remus’s torso.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Just ride Remus, this is nothing personal. It’s just so I don’t literally fall off the back of this horse, nothing more.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Smirk in his voice again, Remus stilled.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Sure, Lo, sure.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Lo?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Remus turned his head halfway towards Logan.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Short version of Logic.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Okay, Re.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Remus chuckled heartily as he flicked the reins, Deodore beginning their trek to the closest region.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Logan looked back, pressing part of his face into the top of Remus’s head as he grew father from where he had come.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Goodbye… I’ll be back… I promise.</span>
  </em>
</p>
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